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In their bedroom, Booth and Brennan silently got ready for bed, a tension hanging like a cloud between them. Brennan stripped down and pulled on one of Booth's oversized FBI t-shirts while Booth stripped down to just his underwear.
Brennan almost felt embarrassed looking at him, but she couldn't help but stare at the muscular physique she had always loved. Brennan couldn't even explain to herself why she nearly felt embarrassed – he was her partner! But the slight strain between them was turning her into someone she did not want to be. She felt like a shadow of her former self, and she wasn't sure how to find herself again amidst everything going on. Tears sprung to her eyes, and Brennan didn't want to cry in front of Booth again, but nothing seemed to stop these tears. She walked over to the bed, pulled back the covers, and swiftly climbed in, trying to avoid Booth's searching eyes. Now was not the time for her to look into his warm chocolate eyes and completely break down.
Booth climbed into bed a moment later, aching to hold his beautiful Bones, but knowing that her turned back meant she didn't even want to make a little small talk before sleeping. His eyes flicked to the window by the bed, where small slivers of moonlight were shining through the cracks in the blinds. He let his eyes follow one little slice of the light until they landed on Brennan, and that's when he noticed the barely existent shudder of her shoulders.
She was crying. Booth felt like he had been kicked in the gut. Had he not caused her to cry already today? He was hurting her over and over again, hurting her when he should have been comforting and holding her. His once impervious partner had simply become strong; she had changed for him. But now he feared that what had happened was once again changing her, this time for the worse – back to what she started at. Heart in a box, walls surrounding her in every way.
Dejected and unable to sleep, he watched her tiny, fragile movements as she gradually stopped shuddering and began to lay more still.
"I love you, Bones," he whispered, but there was no way for him to know if she'd heard him and no indication of anything otherwise.
The next morning was a Monday, meaning that Booth and Brennan both were headed back to work. Brennan awoke early and found that Booth had already gotten up because the bed was empty, Tying on a robe, Brennan peeked in the bathroom and found Booth was not there, either. She proceeded to pad down the hall to Christine's room, but found her crib empty, too.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Brennan realized that Booth had cooked breakfast and had gotten Christine ready for daycare.
"Good morning," he murmured.
"Morning," she replied, a thin smile barely spreading her lips. She stood in the doorway as she watched Booth put the dishes he used to cook into the sink.
"Sit, eat," he told her. Brennan eyed him for a few seconds before obediently moving towards the table to sit next to Christine. After giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead, she asked her daughter, "Did you sleep well?"
Christine merely looked at her mother, too busy shoveling the food in front of her in her mouth. Absently, Brennan stroked Christine's hair across her forehead and lovingly caressed the little girl's cheek before turning to the plate Booth was setting in front of her
"Thanks Booth," she said, meeting his eyes, but then quickly averting them.
"Alright, listen, I've got to go and get into work early to get some paperwork done. I'll call you in a while, okay?"
"That's fine," Brennan responded. Booth leaned down to give her a light kiss goodbye, and Brennan cringed away involuntarily.
"Sorry," she muttered.
"Bones, c'mon," he sighed unhappily, and he leaned down again. His lips touched hers very softly, and he was reminded of the awkward times they had shared after Brennan had returned from being on the run. Always because of Pelant, he thought.
"See you later," he said, grabbing his phone off the counter and proceeding to walk out the door.
"Bye," Brennan replied, in a voice that Booth could not have heard unless he had been in the same room. She exhaled loudly and picked up the plate of food she had hardly touched to take it over to the trash. While scraping the cold food off, Brennan watched as Christine turned around in her high chair, her eyes searching for her mother.
"I'm over here, sweetheart," Brennan called, and Christine's wandering eyes found her mother's at last. Christine reached her hands up, wanting to be held. "Alright, here we go," Brennan crooned to her little girl, picking her up and settling her on her hip.
Carrying her daughter up the stairs, Brennan realized she really did not want to part with Christine that day. She wanted to snuggle her daughter close and play with her and not let the girl out of her sight. But Brennan knew she actually needed to work today. They were looking at a set of remains that had just been delivered from Peru. Archaeologists were extremely excited about the find and had asked the Jeffersonian team to study the bones.
After setting her daughter on the floor next to her in the bathroom, Brennan looked in the mirror and realized just how tired she looked. Feeling somewhat gloomy, she pulled a brush through her chestnut brown hair and applied minimal makeup. Next, she pulled on a pair of simple black pants, a blue patterned top, a cardigan, and a pair of black boots. Looking at the clock on the bedside table, Brennan realized she should probably hurry to get Christine to daycare. Thankful that Booth had already gotten Christine ready, Brennan scooped her up and zipped down the stairs into the kitchen. Keys, keys, keys, she thought, trying to remember where she'd put them.
After at last finding the keys, grabbing her purse and phone, and getting Christine buckled into her car seat, Brennan set out for the Jeffersonian. Dropping Christine off was easy, but Brennan's heart ached to see her daughter go. She put aside her own personal misery for the time being and carried on.
Upon entering the Jeffersonian, Brennan quickly made for her office, completely unphased by the bustle of people going about their jobs. Once in her office, Brennan grabbed her blue labcoat and looked through the mail that had been dropped off for her. Nothing seemed particularly interesting or valuable, so she put aside the mail and left her office.
After swiping her ID card to enter the platform, Brennan realized that her best friend hadn't come to talk, nag, or say anything otherwise to her. Spotting Hodgins on the platform, Brennan asked, "Dr. Hodgins, do you happen to know where Angela is?"
Hodgins replied, too quickly, "No idea." But Brennan didn't notice the unusual tone his voice carried because she was lost in thought about Angela.
Meanwhile, in the FBI Building, Booth was just opening up the door to his office when he spotted a familiar figure lounging in the corner chair. The moment he spotted her, he knew why she was there. Angela, he thought. Shit.